Tactical networks may be embodied in nodes built on platforms that may be created or activated in a dynamic and ad-hoc manner. Source and destination nodes communicating with each other may reside on tactical networks with the same or different networking waveforms. Networking waveforms may include a plurality of communicating parameters including, by way of example and not by way of limitation, communication message format, signaling protocol, message addressing, handshake protocols and other aspects of communicating among networks. A communication venue may include numerous tactical networks employing different communicating waveforms. Such a communicating environment may be referred to as including heterogeneous tactical networks.
When source and destination nodes belong to tactical networks employing different networking waveforms, data communication between peer applications and services residing at the source and destination nodes may communicate with each other via multi-hop employment of a plurality of tactical networks including at least one gateway that may provide interconnectivity between pairs of heterogeneous tactical networks. Tactical networking environments may have various constraints and a multi-hop tactical network system preferably must robustly handle intermittent link connectivity, varying forward and return path-route bandwidth and bit-packet errors or rates, and may preferably operate over heterogeneous tactical networks consisting of both Internet Protocol (IP) and non-IP networks.
In addition to providing seamless interconnection within a system including heterogeneous tactical networks with different networking waveforms, it would be desirable to be able to connect with ex-system networks such as, by way of example and not by way of limitation, the Internet or the Global Information Grid (GIG).
A challenge for operating within multi-hop heterogeneous tactical networks is to define the path or route between peer nodes and their associated applications or services that take into account the varying and asymmetric link connectivity characteristics between adjacent network nodes while ensuring end-to-end connectivity at a desired Quality of Service (QoS) for critical information management (IM) and message exchanges.
Existing solutions to address end-to-end connectivity at the desired QoS for mission critical IM within multi-hop heterogeneous tactical networks may rely on, by way of example and not by way of limitation: (1) Mechanisms such as the Internet's reliable delivery implemented by Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), which may achieve reliability by source retransmissions to destination nodes; (2) Some source node applications or services may rely on multiple redundant transmissions to ensure that at least probabilistically one of the redundant transmissions may be received by the destination node's applications or services; and (3) Use of a pair of Performance Enhancing Proxy (PEP) gateways between tactical networking regions where connectivity performance does not meet critical requirements. Peer PEP gateways may rely on transport mechanisms, such as transmission rate control, retransmission, and error correction coding, to enhance message or packet delivery performance between peer PEP gateways to enhance end-to-end connectivity.
Disadvantages of the existing solutions may include, by way of example and not by way of limitation: (1) TCP/IP may provide end-to-end connectivity reliability but the mechanism was intended for congestion control and hence in the case of paths or routes consisting of links that encounter intermittent disruptions (i.e., tactical networks) the congestion control mechanism of TCP/IP results in reduced end-to-end throughput performance. Further, tactical networks may involve heterogeneous waveforms and TCP/IP may not fully address predefined end-to-end message or packet delivery requirements. (2) Use of redundant transmissions between source and destination nodes' applications or services to enhance the probability of end-to-end message or packet delivery may adversely impact utilization of the resource- or bandwidth-constrained tactical networks because transmission of redundant messages or packets may require additional networking resources. (3) Use of PEP gateways may require planned deployment so may therefore not apply well within a dynamic multi-hop tactical networking environment. Further, PEP gateways may be prone to experiencing a single point of failure.
There is a need for a system and method for managing internetwork communications among a plurality of networks that enables effective selection and establishment of paths or routes appropriate to meet requirements for successful and timely end-to-end data transfer within multi-hop tactical (e.g., IP and non-IP) networks.
There is a need for a system and method for managing internetwork communications among a plurality of networks that may enhance robustness of a system of heterogeneous tactical networks to satisfy communication link performance characteristics that may be expressed in terms of Quality of Service (QoS) parameters.